How it Ended
by NexusG07
Summary: It was their Senior year in high school. Both were prepared to go off in their separate ways while promising to maintain their long relationship. Amélie is going off to a college and Lena is going off to join the Air Force. The problem is, Lena didn't tell Amélie she was going to the military. Pre-Tracer, Pre-Widowmaker. Post Omnic Crisis. Slight AU. A OW Big Bag story.


**Part I**

 **Our Origins**

"Lena, are you even listening to me?"

A young woman asked her shorter female friend, waving a hand over her face.

"Think she's distracted."

A man said, as he walked up to her and slapped her lightly.

"Huh? What?"

The British woman snapped out of her trance and looked up to her two friends. One of them was a tall Swiss woman who wore a black tank top and blue tights, her light blonde hair tied into a ponytail and blue orbs that showed concern in them. The other was an American man with a stylish military cut blonde hair and deep harden blue eyes. He wore a simple gray shirt, black cargo pants and blue and black high ankle sneakers.

"You were spacing out, everything okay?"

Lena blinked a couple times, still trying to completely revert her attention to the present. Her mind was still hazy from over thinking and still thought she was in her room, clad in her orange tank and comfortable blue boxer shorts. Her body though, told her unresponsive brain that she was, in fact, sitting outside a cafe with her two close friends and was clad in a simple orange pullover sweater with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, black and white high ankle skateboard shoes and black jeans. Clothes she had thrown on in a rush to get to her first period class of math.

It was a good start to her day, since it was followed by a growling stomach throughout her first two periods, almost choking on her food due to hunger in her break period, crashing into the fence during PE due to going way too fast during her race with a friend, went to the nurse's office to find out she sprained her wrist, got an angry scolding from her girlfriend during lunch and probably had failed both exams on her last two periods. Yes, it was a fun day for the young Lena Oxton.

"Uh, yeah! Yeah… All good love," She looked down to the silver ring on her finger, fiddling with it, "Just thinking about some things."

"You haven't told her, have you?"

The woman asked, as she silently sipped her coffee. Angela Ziegler, a prodigy that had already received her title as head medical researcher in the organization that Lena could only dream to be part of, Overwatch. Now, the young woman didn't know any skills that could be good enough to catch the attention of the world's peacemakers, but she had an advantage that rarely anyone else had. That advantage sat right next to her, the man who was known as Jack Morrison, one of the great leaders of Overwatch.

Although, even with the two most iconic and powerful people in the world as her friends, she felt guilty for using their positions to get into the heroic organization. She rather play it fair and find her place in the military and see if she could make the cut.

"Lena!"

The British woman jumped at the authoritative voice of Jack, realizing she spacing out again. Angela put a hand over Lena's, squeezing it lightly.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

The doctor didn't expect for the young woman to jump on her feet and grabbed Angela by the shoulders, shaking her a bit.

"I just don't know how to tell her! You know how she feels about the military," Lena let her grip slip off her friend, falling back on her chair with soft thump, "It's already hard enough that she disapproves on how majority of my friends are in the military. I could only imagine how she would react when I tell her about me enlisting into the Air Force…"

The British woman sighed, sinking into her chair with her hands in her face, feeling her face beginning to get warm. Ever since the beginning of her final year in high school, she finally made her decision on what she wanted to do after she had graduated, but with that, came the nightmares of losing the person she loved dearly. Lena knew, since she was five years old, that she wanted to be part of something big, something that would help others. All through her childhood, she wanted to be part of the military and claimed that she would rule the skies. Yes, she dreamed to fly into the clouds and look at the world through a different point of view. Unfortunately, life wasn't always full of dreams and wishes.

"Oh Lena…" The Swiss woman ran a hand through the teen's gelled hair, trying to soothe the soft cries of the young girl.

Angela knew Lena since she was in 6th grade due to the United Nation's interest in her. They said she was a prodigy in operating any motor vehicles, boats and anything that required a human to make it move. Yet there was a problem with her that required the doctor's expertise, a problem that began in her childhood years.

An attack had happened in her neighborhood in King's Row and there wasn't enough money to repair the damages, leaving the people living in the area homeless and in a rather unfavorable situation. Like many places that were left in rubble and the dispiriting emotions in the people, crimes began to rise. Soon enough, it affected almost every one of all ages and backgrounds. Lena was part of the group, becoming a thief and a dealer of multiple things in her middle school years.

The UN assigned Angela to work with Lena and several other interesting people in the area, to help them get out of the lifestyle they became accustomed to. As much as the doctor wanted to help everyone in the neighborhood, she couldn't due to the UN's orders on focusing to rehabilitate the selected people. So she did, or tried at least. Some of the people of interest died due to overdoses, gunshots or the risks they took in the crimes they participated in. Angela wondered why the UN wasn't stopping these crimes, to only realize they didn't care about it. They only cared about money, their public image and getting rid of those who had opposed it. A bunch of druggies and thieves were nothing compared to the rebel groups that opposed the UN.

She was angry at first when she figured out the news and considered leaving Overwatch, but after digging through Lena's room to see if the girl did or hid any drugs, her mind turned a complete one-eighty. Fortunately, Lena didn't have drugs on her at that time, but she had a ton of various aircraft models and Overwatch posters. That's when Angela saw how much the girl wanted to be a hero, but was discouraged when she saw the people she idolized tore down her hometown to eliminate a group of Omnic rebels.

Seeing that hidden in a box under the girl's bed made her more determined to turn the girl's life around. It took her two years for the girl to stop stealing, drinking and smoking. It took her a year to help Lena become who she was now. Track and Field along with Cross Country greatly helped her rehab process. Unfortunately, to Angela's dismay, she kept the piercings on her ear as a reminder of the hard times in her life. When the UN had heard a few people had finally turned around, they gave them a scholarship to go to a school for the people with great skill, Paragon Academy.

It was a boarding school in the middle of ocean at the heart of Federal City, a place where everyone around the world is united. The school only accepted people that had a great skill or talent that could benefit them in a way. Although, some people deny the invitations to become an officer and possibly an Overwatch agent, they found some other great jobs to help the world.

They were currently in one of the city's local cafes, trying to spend some time with each other while Angela and Jack were stationed in the Overwatch base in the city.

"When are you planning on telling her? Your graduation is in a few months. You have to do it soon or else she'll be more angry then she would be if you told her now," Jack said, earning a quiet "I know" from the teen.

He sighed, looking at the promise ring in her finger and snickered. For a couple that acted like they were annoyed by each other's presence, they were sure cheesy.

"I know love. It's just… Amélie is a strong person. She wears her heart on her sleeve and that's what drew me to her. She speaks her mind and fights for her beliefs. And I'm pretty damn sure she's gonna give me an earful when I tell her."

"Well, a relationship won't be a very healthy and long one if there weren't any obstacles and fights," Angela waved her index finger around, a teasing tone laced in her voice.

Lena sighed and smiled as best she can, despite the anxiety that stirred inside her chest.

"Yeah, your right loves. I just hope she'll understand," The young teen muttered, stirring her tea while resting her chin in the palm of her hand.

"She will, it'll probably take some time though," Jack took a sip of his bitter Americano before he made a "mm" noise that caught the attention of the two women, "Ah! I almost forgot!"

Lena and Angela looked at each other for a moment, each having a puzzled expression before Jack pulled out a medium-sized white box. He smiled as he slid the box over to the future pilot.

"I'm not sure if I could make it to your graduation, so I got you a gift in advance," He explained as Lena looked at the box with interest, "Go ahead and open it. I want to see your reaction."

So she did and when she saw the contents of the box, she practically leapt for joy and squealed. She jumped over the table and hugged Jack as tightly as she could, her mouth spilling the words "thank you" over and over again.

"Where did you even find this? This is basically a myth!" The teen exclaimed, standing over her seat and staring at the box in her hands with starry eyes.

Jack smiled and shrugged, looking at the girl in the eyes while sipping his coffee.

"I know some people," He said, winking at the teen and nodding his head towards the unopened box, "Have to say, you have good taste kid. That game was made during my time. Rarely anyone cares about it nowadays."

Lena stuck her tongue out playfully as she continued to stare at the box, "My old man was a gamer since he was young. Kind of handed over that hobby to me when I was young."

Angela hummed, "Didn't your father also made you interested in collecting planes?"

The British woman nodded, "You could say that love. He collected ships actually. He was in the Navy as a field medic, much like you Angela except not much of a prodigy."

"So you were a daddy's girl?" Jack asked with a chuckle.

"Yep! Pretty much grew up with my pa. My mum was in the army, so she was deployed a lot due to the Omnic Crisis. Pa wasn't deployed much since he was older then my mum and had an injury that prevented him to serve."

"Your father is ten years older than your mother, right? How did they meet?" Angela asked, curious of the young girl's parents. She never properly met Lena's parents or heard the teen talk about them before.

"They met through a bet a couple of my father's arse of friends made. Since they all still looked pretty young, they betted how many recruits they could sleep with since they had a bad reputation for that sort of thing. My Pa didn't really want to participate, but if he didn't, he would be on cleaning duty for a year. So he made a deal, since my mum was the most stubborn and hard one to, uh, 'catch', that if he get into her knickers, he would be off the hook."

"So he did it, my mum got mad about it when she found out about the bet. Made my Pa go on a date with her, which turned into several. One thing led to another as they say and here I am," Lena finished as she put the box of the rare ship into her bag, "Ma was also a Mass Effect fan. That's what drove her to the army. They would explode if I told them I got a hold of a Normandy replica."

She gently patted the box and zipped her bag back up as Angela checked her watch on her wrist.

"Don't you have a Track Meet soon?" The doctor asked as she finished the last of her beverage. Lena shook her head and smiled.

"In an hour and a half love. Last meet of the season also last time to try and break my PR on the hurdles."

"What's your best time right now?" Jack ran a hand through his blonde short hair, thinking if he should fix his hair again for what would be the hundredth time today.

"Thirteen point four seconds on the 100 meter event. Trying to beat the world record of twelve point two!" Lena exclaimed standing back up and putting her hands on her hips with her head held high.

"We'll see about that kid," The commander felt a vibration in his pocket which gave him the immediate instinct to pull out his phone. Lena stared at him dumbfounded.

"You still have an iPhone XX? That's old!" The British woman proclaimed, giggling a bit. Jack waved his hand in the air, dismissing her comment.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not getting any younger, Lena. This thing still works fine," His eyes scanned over the screen and his neutral expression turned into a frown, "Shit, they want us back in the base."

Angela sighed and frowned; giving Lena an apologizing look, "Guess we can't stay away from duty for too long."

"It's fine. Just hoping you guys can make it to my Track Meet," The doctor looked at her commander who just smiled and ruffled the teen's hair.

"Course we will. Even if it's something important, I wouldn't want to miss seeing you break a world record," He finished off the last of his drink before getting up, "Just hoping your girlfriend will stop trying to kill us with her eyes."

"Why is Amélie so against the military anyways? She's almost always with Gabriel and Ana, their in Overwatch too. Her best friend, Gérard, is planning to join Overwatch as well," Angela said, getting up and putting on her coat. Lena merely shrugged, her gaze saddening a bit.

"I don't know, but I know she's a bit… Distant? Towards Gabriel and Ana, but I know she snapped at Gérard when he told her. She's still a bit irritated at him about it," The British woman sighed as she began play with the promise ring on her finger, "Gérard is her best friend too and she acted like that to someone she knew since middle school. How'd you think she'll act to me when I tell her I'm joining the RAF?"

"RAF?" The doctor asked, pausing her gathering of her things that were spread out on the small table to make eye contact with the young woman. She was clueless to the names of other military branches in different countries other than her own.

"Royal Air Force," Jack said, glancing down at his phone again to see the latest message, "its the UK's Air Force branch. Lena is planning to join that instead of applying straight to Overwatch."

"Yep! Wanted to build my own reputation instead of having a simple logo build it."

The doctor mouthed an "ah" and within a few minutes of idle chatter and promises to watch Lena's last meet, all three were on the sidewalk saying their goodbyes. Jack put a comforting hand on the young woman's shoulder, patting it gently as he looked at her with the pride of a leader.

"Amélie loves you Lena. Never forget that. You two have gone through enough big fights that this one should be nothing."

* * *

Amélie Moreau sighed and nibbled on the granola bar she had in her hand. Despite how awful it tasted, the French woman had no choice to eat it. She would have to reinforce her girlfriend's taste in food again considering how she ate these atrocious bars of protein powder every day before she went off to practice. She murmured words in French as she continued to listen to the idle chatter of her companions.

"Jack said he'll handle the issue," A woman clad in a beige long-sleeve, black leggings, blue sneakers and a blue beret rested on her head said to the three men that walked alongside her, a phone in hand.

"He better, I'm not covering his ass anymore," A man in a black zip-up hoodie, black loose cargo pants, black hiking boots and a black beanie grumbled quite angrily, shoving his hands in the pocket of his hoodie.

"Are you still mad at him?" Another man said, looking to be around the same age as Amélie. He wore a white pullover hoodie underneath a black leather jacket, black slim jeans and a pair of black and dark green high ankle skateboard shoes.

The French woman rolled her eyes and smiled in amusement as the man that wore all black began to rant about his best friend. As much as she hated the fact that the three that were walking in front her was in the military, they were the only family she had. Her mother had died while giving birth to her due to a heart condition she had and her father had left both of them to go into the military. That left her with her grandmother and aunt, who both died in an Omnic riot at her hometown when she was eight years old.

Ana, the other woman in the group, was there during the riot and found her crying at her destroyed home. The woman who was thirty-five at the time had taken her in, deciding to raise her alongside her seven year old daughter. That was how she met Gabriel, the ranting one wearing all black, who became a father figure to her. Even though Amélie still hated the military for taking away her father, she couldn't hold that against Ana and Gabriel who basically spent most of their life in it. Amélie had kept her last name and spoke in French as much as possible to remind herself of her nationality and immediate family she once had.

The French woman had grown up with Ana's daughter, Fareeha Amari, who she went to middle school and high school with in Federal City. They spent their remaining elementary school together in various military bases being tutored by the agents in Overwatch. Despite growing up in the military, learned how to shoot a gun and been taught various different fighting techniques, Amélie refused to join the military which Ana was happy about. Unfortunately, not the same could be said about Fareeha, who plans to enlist into the Egyptian army after she completed her education like her mother had done.

Amélie was a bit upset when she heard the news, since the military had taken so much from her, but couldn't do anything about the young Amari's decision. She could only hope she would be safe in the path she planned to live up to.

"So how's Lena doing?"

The teen next to her asked as he ran a hand through his hair, fixing a part that wasn't gelled properly. He slowed down his pace to match Amélie's, letting the older two members in front of them continue the conversation the French woman wanted no part of. Gérard Lacroix was the teen's name, Amélie's best friend since middle school. He was the one who had given her a tour around the school and one of her few friends she had in her school life, that was until she met Lena Oxton.

"She's fine. A bit upset since it is her last Track Meet."

"Isn't that her jacket?" Gabriel paused his tirade to jump into their conversation. He pointed at the blue and white track jacket with "OXTON" printed in orange on the back.

The French woman had forgotten she took her girlfriend's jacket to irritate the shorter woman since she needed it for her last meet today. Amélie had regretted making decision since it was quite chilly outside even with the sunny weather. She only had worn a white shirt underneath the jacket, tight black leggings and white sneakers.

" _Oui_ , I stole it from her this morning," Ana grinned at that comment.

"Do you always steal your girlfriend's clothes?" The sniper slowed down as well to match the two teens' pace. Amélie shrugged and smiled.

" _Non,_ just today," Amélie zipped the jacket up to the collar to help block the series of winds, "Although I should have brought an extra jacket."

Ana laughed while the others shook their heads.

"I would offer you mine, but it is way too cold for me," Gérard said, raising a pocketed hand. The French woman playfully shoved him.

" _Connard_." (Asshole)

" _Secousse."_ (Jerk)

" _Brute."_ (Bully)

" _Chienne."_ Amélie glared at him as he stuck out his tongue playfully.

"Cock sucker."

"Hey! That was only one time!" The French woman laughed as Gérard began to blush a pink hue.

"Why did you even do it with him of all people? He was not very good looking," She asked, taking the last bite of the bar, crumpling the wrapper in her hand.

"Oh, talking about the time Gérard banged his T.A?" Ana asked teasingly, while the Frenchman's face began to be red.

"Didn't he turn out to be a son of a leader of a mafia group?" Gabriel stated, pausing in front of a popular cafe that served and represented almost all types of cafes around the world.

"Yeah… Genji Shimada, youngest son of Takumi Shimada," Gérard grumbled as he and the two women also stopped. Amélie cocked one perfect eyebrow at the building while Ana laughed at the teen boy.

"Genji? We might have a problem with your recruitment then," The sniper giggled as Gabriel signaled them to wait while he went into the small building that had people of various nationalities inside.

"Why would we have a problem?" The Frenchman shifted his weight around to warm himself up a little while Amélie shoved her hands in the pockets of the jacket and shivered.

"Apparently Genji Shimada has joined Overwatch too and will be in your class next year," Gérard let out a violent cough, choking on his own saliva. The two women laughed at the man, their laughter subsiding once he had calmed himself.

"Your joking right?" Ana shook her head slowly and smirked when she saw the Frenchman's face pale. Amélie covered her mouth, giggling.

"Ah, have you already broken the news to him Ana?" The French woman turned to her left, seeing Gabriel holding a bag with pastries and a four-cup cardboard holder containing hot beverages for them. The sniper nodded, walking to the man to grab two of the paper mugs and gave one to Amélie, who gladly accepted it.

"I don't think he's taking it very well," Ana took a slow sip of the drink, sighing as it warmed her throat, "Next year will be an interesting year for us."

Gabriel nodded in agreement, "I heard many prodigy students from Paragon will be enlisting into their own country's military and Overwatch itself. We have a new generation to look forward to train."

Amélie frowned. More than half of her friends and almost everyone in all the classes she has were among that group. Even if she's slowly accepting it, what worried her the most was her girlfriend possibly joining. She knew the UN had a tremendous interest in Lena due to her incredible skills. The French woman seen it herself when they tested how the British woman drove, sail and pilot various vehicles. It was what led her to meet the young woman in the first place.

It was during their Freshmen year, Amélie's first time in years of going to school outside a military base, that she had met the bubbly British woman. At first, the two didn't get along very well due to the French woman being shy and unsure how to act around an outgoing person like Lena. The British woman, despite her friends' protests, kept on trying to befriend her until one day, she finally gave up and began to focus more on improving her skill sets in running and piloting. That very same day was the time one of her friends, Lúcio Correia dos Santos, came up to Amélie and invited her to watch Lena's practice next week.

He gave her time to think about it and she realized that maybe having someone who is more affable than she was as a friend would help her communication skills since she always gave someone the wrong impression. So Amélie went to watch Lena drive various different vehicles, pilot aircrafts and navigate ships. When the British woman saw her, she thought she went to mock her, so she did the absolute best to impress the French woman. She even invited Amélie to join her as a passenger.

That's when they hit it off. Lena had realized that they went off on the wrong foot due to Amélie being incredibly socially awkward, so she wanted to help the woman as much as she can. They started hanging out almost everyday of the week, with Amélie helping her for her classes and teaching her how to cook her own meals due to living off pre-made food from the stores or cafeteria. Lena helped her socialize more with others and try things she never had tried before. Like drag racing down the main highway in the city, which caused them to get suspended for a week after getting caught by Ana. It was all worth it, since that's when they realized their hidden feelings for each other.

It was rough to keep their relationship steady at first due to their slightly conflicting personalities, but they were able to work it out somehow which led to their inseparable confusing relationship.

"So where to now?" Gabriel shoved a drink in the still frozen teen's hand, which weakly gripped it. Ana shrugged and checked the time on her phone.

"We still have less than an hour before Lena's meet right?" Amélie nodded, taking a sip of her own drink, savoring the sweet taste of the coffee, "We could head to the shooting range and continue the competition we were having the other day."

Gabriel snorted, "More like the competition you and Amélie have to finish. Lacroix and I have no chance against the two of you in that sort of thing."

Before the French woman could make a comment to mock the super soldier, the sounds of bells caught her attention. Turning to the entrance of the cafe, she felt like she had got caught in a blizzard. There stood a man with messy raven hair that was slightly gelled to the left, like he had put some gel in his hand and ran it through his hair only once, and amber eyes that looked the exact same as Amélie's. He wore a typical beige themed short-sleeved army uniform with the French flag sewed onto his left shoulder. If he didn't have a short stubble along with the pair of black sport sunglasses that rested on the top of his gelled hair, he could've been mistaken as Amélie's long lost older brother.

"Um, excuse me, but did you just say Amélie? As in Amélie Moreau?" He began to move closer, close enough for the four to see his name that was sewed onto the front of his uniform.

"Émile Moreau…" The French woman tensed, the name rolling on her tongue naturally, like she had said it a thousand times.

She had seen her father on old pictures her grandmother had shown her along with hearing stories about him from various people when they hear her last name. She knew that she could've met the man before due to her obvious affiliations with Overwatch, but chose not to due to holding onto the hope of him finding her instead of the other way around.

As time moved on though, that hope slowly deteriorated into a mere fantasy, with her thinking those sort of things only happened in movies and that her father may not want to even be a part of her life somehow. Although, she knew some part of her still held onto that hope and it began to bubble into the surface as she saw the very same man she hoped that would come back for her after hearing her mother, grandmother and aunt had passed.

"Amélie…" Gérard stared at the man that came out of the cafe, fist clenching, "Isn't that your father?"

" _Oui_ ," Amélie said weakly, feeling the atmosphere greatly tense, like she was in the middle of a battle between a pack of wolves and a lone wolf.

" _Merde,_ Amélie? Is that really you?" The soldier smiled, a genuine smile, moving his hand up to his hair, pulling it slightly like he was trying to wake himself up from a dream.

Ana gently touched her shoulder, giving her a concerned look, "You don't have to talk to him."

Gabriel nodded in agreement, glaring at the man, "He can't make up the time he lost with you. It was his decision to leave you."

Her father began to walk up to her, before the Blackwatch commander stepped in front of her, his glare becoming colder. Émile stopped in his tracks, guilt clear on his face.

"Please, let me talk to my daughter. Let me just…" He paused, unsure how to say, "make up to the lost time I had with her" since it was more than that. He had abandoned her after her mother had died, so he had no right to try and be part of her life again unless Amélie lets him. Ana scowled and stomped towards him, fists clenched.

"If you think you can-"

"It's okay," Amélie stepped in between them, raising a hand at Ana, "I wish to speak to him as well."

The French woman stared at her father, eyes unreadable. Gabriel crossed his arms and glared at him, ready to lunge at the man and punch the lights out of him. Gérard placed a comforting hand on Amélie, silently saying a few inaudible words in French. Ana scowled and sharply turned, walking towards a vacant chair on the outdoor seating so of the cafe, anger clear in her body language as she sat down with her legs and arms crossed, watching the man like a hawk. Her mother instincts had kicked in. The soldier gulped and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, pointing at the building behind him.

"This way."

* * *

"I met my father today."

Lena moved her head away from underneath Amélie's, moving up to meet the French woman's disheartened gaze.

"You did?" She nodded, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, "How'd it go?"

Amélie let out the deep breath she took, shifting her body closer to her girlfriend's for warmth. Despite her cheeks being slightly red due to their nightly ministrations, it was beginning to get chilly in their apartment.

"He wants me to join the army after college. Take his position after he retires or passes," Lena eyes went wide and her body tensed a bit.

Her mind began racing, wondering why her father wanted her to take over after him, why Amélie wasn't making the usual disgusted face when she mentions the military and why she was talking about this during their after sex snuggle. Then again, her lover always brought up odd, sometimes turn-off, topics during these moments of pillow talk.

"Are you?" Amber eyes glared at her.

" _Non,_ you know how I feel about the military," The French woman saw her girlfriend's gaze fall, staring down at the white sheets of their shared bed.

"Why do you hate the military love? You never told me," The runner quietly said, feeling her skin beginning to get goosebumps when the other woman raised a cool hand up her arm.

"It took everything from me. My father left me for it. My grandmama and 'aunt' as you English speakers call them, died because of the military. I lost my childhood home due to war. Many of the people whom I grown fond of died during their service in it when I lived with Ana and Gabriel. Now, Fareeha and Gérard are following the same path," Amélie explained as she traced an old scar on her lover's upper arm, observing how she shivered at the contact.

The French woman knew that majority of the shorter woman's scars were from her days of thievery and dealing illegal items. She was shocked when she had heard the runner's story and had felt a connection to her because of it. Even though she was the more fortunate one out of the two thanks to Ana, she was glad to have met the woman despite the circumstances both had to face to get them this far. If they haven't gone through the hardships they did, they would have never met and their lives may be completely different.

"Well…" Amélie's gaze looked up to meet Lena's big brown doe eyes, which showed sympathy and fear, "If you did… You can be like Ana and protect those you love!"

" _And so we can join the military together."_ Lena thought to herself, wanting to say the sentence out loud.

Although, her girlfriend would be in the French Army while she will be in the Royal Air Force, at least both of them will be in a similar field together. Even though it would be the same situation, maybe slightly worse since who knows where they would be stationed at, at least they request to be stationed together using an excuse than having one of them staying at one place while the other can only hope to be stationed there. Sure, the British woman could request to be stationed at Annecy where Amélie would be going for college, but their schedules would be off unlike in the military where their schedules would be similar. Lena also didn't have to worry for Amélie being mad at her forever or possibly break up with her since their both enlisting into something the French woman hates.

" _Chérie_ , tell me truthfully…" Amélie's hand reached up to the bubbly teen's face, snapping Lena's thought process as she pushed a strand of hair that was about to cover her eyes to the side. The British woman felt new sweat beginning to form on her back as she bit the inside of her cheek.

"What love?" The French woman's gaze tensed as she draped her pale arm over the shorter woman's stomach, tracing her fingers along her spine.

"Are you enlisting into the military?" The British woman went rigid under her touch, her mind beginning to panic. Did she know? Did she see the application on her laptop when she had let her borrow it to check her email?

"No… No I'm not love," Lena lied through her teeth, her face beginning to flush a bit as the wandering fingers paused along her mid-back.

"Don't lie to me Oxton," Amélie threaten, untangling their legs and pushing upwards to hover above her nervous lover. Lena would usually make a dirty comment during these moments, but her mind went into a complete frenzy, trying to work up the acting skills she once had during her middle school years.

"Don't worry love. I'm not lying," The French woman sighed and nodded, rolling off the shorter woman, her back facing the runner. Lena moved closer until the front of her body was pressed against the taller woman, tangling their legs together again.

"I don't want to lose you too…" Amélie softly said, turning her body to face Lena again and began to run a hand through the short loose messy brown hair.

It was nice to see her girlfriend's hair without its usual waxy gel texture, it reminded her of the dog she had a few years ago. It was a German Shepard she found in the streets of her destroyed neighborhood in Annecy. The dog was a puppy when she found it, around seven months old. His name was Chew, supposedly named after the tarantula she saw next to the pup. At the time, her guardians had never corrected her about calling tarantulas "chula" so she named the dog similar to it even when Ana corrected her. Unfortunately, the dog had only lived four more years until it had died due to an assassin attempting to kill Ana from afar in the hotel they had stayed in Cancun, Mexico. He took the shot for the sniper.

"You won't lose me love. I'm a bit too hard to lose," The runner said, a bit too cheerfully for Amélie's taste.

"That's a lie," Lena giggled as a hand snaked lightly up her sides.

"Yeah? When's the last time you lost me?"

"Earlier when you ran away from me during lunch," The British woman let out a sharp yelp when the taller woman had squeezed her most ticklish spot right above her hips.

"Ya know love, your scary when you're angry," Lena groaned out, trying to recover from the painful high pitched scream she had let out a few seconds ago.

"I am aware of that," She let out a soft breath as she placed her chin on top of Lena's head, "Let's get some sleep, _chérie_. We have a long day tomorrow."

The British woman hummed in agreement, her throat still feeling a bit raw as she settled to be the smaller person on the bed for tonight. The soft beats of the woman's heart soothing the bubbly woman's unusual rapid heart rate. She was still incredibly nervous and sweaty due to the pillow talk they just had a few minutes ago. Lena absolutely hated lying to Amélie, but she still couldn't bring herself to tell her lover the truth. She was afraid to lose the person she loved the most, yet she didn't want to hide anything from the taller woman.

She took a deep breath and opened her mouth without planning out how she should break the news to the woman who could possibly kill her in their bed afterwards.

"Amélie? You still awake love?" Cold feet gently brushed the toned calves, sending chills down Lena's spine.

"Mhm… What is it, _chérie?"_

Lena paused, weighing out her options. She wanted to tell her girlfriend so badly about her enlistment into the RAF, but she felt like it was the bad time. They had a pretty good day today, which was rare due to the amount of work and preparations for the real world being thrown at them. Graduation was merely three months away and telling Amélie the news of a decision she had made in the beginning of senior year will make the woman furious. Incredibly furious.

"I love you."

She couldn't do it. Not yet. She wanted to enjoy the warmth of her girlfriend while she still could. For it may be the last time they would have these sorts of nights. Even though there were three months before graduation, the runner knew the French woman would find out about her enlistment in the military soon. And she knew it would not end well.

" _Je t'iame aussi, ma chérie."_

Lena gulped, knowing full well what those words meant. The British woman truly loved the dancer and she felt like it would be the last time she would say those three loving words to Amélie Moreau. And she would hear those four loving words said back to her for the last time too.

' _I love you too, my sweetheart.'_

* * *

It was one of the extreme summer weeks that would happen sometimes before the summer season. It was also a three-day weekend, which also meant a mini-vacation to the beach side of Federal City and staying in the Overwatch vacation home.

Lena took a deep breath of the ocean smell, smiling as she leaned over the edge of the small white wall that separated the road and the beach. It was probably eighty degrees, yet she still wore a plain orange hoodie with the sleeves rolled up, blue jean shorts and white sneakers. Her orange aviators, giving her brown eyes an orange tint. A light breeze tickled the runner's pale skin, making her smile grow wider. She loved the feeling of the wind, due to feeling like she was flying through the air.

" _Chérie_ , a little assistance please?"

Lena tore her gaze from the ocean to her girlfriend who was trying to carry some groceries they had gotten from a nearby supermarket. It was Amélie's turn to cook for them and their friends tonight.

"Yeah! Of course love!" The runner quickly grabbed the two heavy grocery bags from her lover's hands.

"Where to?" The French woman rolled her eyes, plucking a pair of keys from Lena's hands.

"Place them in the kitchen counter. I'll put your motorcycle in the garage," Lena gave her a puzzled look before realizing she had left her motorcycle where she was standing minutes before.

"Oh right, thanks love!"

Amélie rolled her eyes as the runner raced off into the rather large house. Muttering a few words in French, the dance revved the engine of the motor and drove it into the open and fairly empty garage. They had gotten here a few hours earlier than the original meeting time since Amélie wanted to start preparing the huge dinner she would have to cook in the evening. All of the main Overwatch strike team was going to see them.

"I hope we have enough alcohol," She muttered, closing the garage and entering the vacation home to start prepping.

She heard chopping coming from the kitchen, as she got closer. Raising an eyebrow, the person responsible for the noise had confirmed her suspicions since Lena stood at the counter, beginning to chop some vegetables. The runner gave her a sheepish look when Amélie noticed she was chopping it incorrectly and unevenly. Sighing, the dancer helped her girlfriend who insisted on being her assistant chef even though there was a chance for the British woman to burn the house down. They were able to get all of the prep down when the others began to arrive. Reinhardt, Torbjörn, Jack and Angela were the first to arrive with packs of beer and other alcoholic beverages, relieving Amélie's worry of running out of alcohol for the weekend.

The group began to put their stuff into their rooms while Amélie set out snacks for them to munch on during the National Athletic World Championship competition. Lena settled herself on the large couch while Amélie set the snacks down on the coffee table before sitting next to her lover. They silently watched the commercials as they waited for the others. A juice commercial of a Brazilian boy beatboxing and doing from sort of dj-ing caught Amélie's interest.

"Isn't that your friend?" Lena nodded excitedly, her smile growing wider.

"Oh yeah! That's Lucio!" The French woman leaned back against the couch and rested her head on her girlfriend's shoulder, "Forgot how famous he's become."

Amélie hummed, "How did you meet him?"

"Oh, I had band in Freshmen year remember?" Amélie nodded, "Well, he was in my class too and I had no clue on how to use any of the instruments. Since he was a prodigy in it, had to travel there from his middle school to take the class, the teacher told'em to teach me how to play all of them until I find one I like. He and I got closer during that time since I had to spend after school hours some days so he could teach me. Eventually, we became a duo and started doing collabs together since I took a liking to majority of the instruments."

"Even though I didn't have band for my remaining years and had Cross and Track to keep up with, Lúcio and I still tried to make time for each other. Although due to his record label he signed, I haven't seen him in a while."

"How is he going to graduate then? He's still in middle school," Lena stared at her for a moment, face scrunched up, letting the question think before the answer popped into her mind.

"Oh! He's just receiving the works and stuff online. He's a really smart guy so it's easy for him to teach himself the course and everything," Amélie hummed as she adjusted her body so that her head was resting on her girlfriend's thighs and her legs pressed against her chest and back resting against the back of the couch.

Lena rested a hand on the taller woman's shoulder as the Overwatch agents began to pile into the room, each taking spots in the living room and kitchen area. Jack had already grabbed a few beers from the fridge and hand it out. The duo refused the alcoholic beverage, deciding to wait for later tonight when everyone had arrived. Amélie merely listened to the group's conversation, smiling when Reinhardt began to tell an embarrassing story of how Lena made herself lose an argument about how coffee beans are edible.

"I couldn't get a hold of Mei to invite her over. I hope she's okay," Angela brought up, brushing a strand of hair out of her slightly flushed face.

"I am sure she is okay. She is a strong woman. Especially if she's able to live in that tundra up there for months!" Torbjörn raised his beer and laughed, "There were a lot of strong feisty women like her in my time!"

"Too bad you could not capture any of their attention with those flimsy muscle of yours!" Reinhardt hollered, laughing as the shorter burly man stomped towards him, raising his good arm and demanded an arm wrestle to prove he was as strong as the knight.

Before the two could cause any damage, a doorbell echoed through the still fairly empty house. Amélie rose up from her position, knowing fully well who was outside the door.

" _Salut_ ," She greeted a grumpy looking Gabriel, holding a few bags of groceries and a black backpack on his back.

"Are they here?" He grumbled as Ana waved at the grinning French woman.

" _Oui,_ they're all in the living room," The Blackwatch agent sighed and shuffled into the house and towards his room for the weekend while Amélie turned to Ana, "How did you convince him?"

"Told him you would be cooking tonight. He really missed your cooking," The sniper stepped inside and took a sniff of the house, "You haven't started yet?"

" _Non_ , we just finished preparing. I set out snacks so you could have something to eat while watching the championships," The Egyptian woman hummed, "Who else came with you?"

Ana grinned, "You know, the usual."

An extremely loud motor that could possibly make the house quake was heard from around the garage. Amélie groaned, muttering French curses under her breath as the sniper laughed and patted her back, heading to her own room. Gérard suddenly came to her view and he greeted her with a hug and a kiss on each cheek.

"What's that line your girlfriend says? The calvalry's here or something?" He said in the best impression of Lena he could muster. The dancer punched him on the shoulder and pushed him inside the house.

" _Get inside and unpack, idiot,"_ She said harshly in French, giggling at his terrible impression of a British accent.

"Yeah, yeah. Sat and James is here by the way."

Amélie rose an eyebrow, " _Quelle?"_

"Cheers love! The cavalry's here!" A booming, Australian voice echoed through the dancer's ears and the summer home.

"Hey! That's my line!" Lena shot back from the other room.

The French woman rolled her eyes and turned to the gasoline smelling teen before her. The lanky man wore black jeans, a brown leather jacket, a torn stained white shirt and a dirty silver chain that was attached to the belt loops of his jeans. His dirty blonde hair was spiked up and the grin his face showed off perfect white, sharp teeth. Amber orbs flashed mischief.

"Jamison, a pleasure to see you again," Amélie scrunched up her face due to the strong odor of gasoline, "Just came from work?"

"You bet!" He brushed past the dancer turned to where the British woman's voice came from, "Hey Lena! We still gonna fix your bike?"

"Yeah! Right after this mate!"

Jamison Fawkes gave a thumbs up to the air and walked off to the nearest vacant room. The Australian teen was a farm boy, similar to Jack Morrison, and got picked up by Gabriel due to his unique skills of building weapons. He was also one of the lead males in the theatre program Paragon had, mainly playing as the comic relief lead characters. He was an interesting boy to Amélie and couldn't wait to see his decision when he would graduate next year.

"Hello Amélie," A calm voice spoke from behind, causing the French woman to jump in surprise.

Turning around swiftly, she saw Satya Vaswani standing behind her with a big purse in hand and a rather expensive bottle of wine. She wore loose blue sweater, black leggings with heels and sunglasses to match.

" _Salut,"_ Amélie awkwardly waved as the other woman nodded and silently walked towards a vacant room.

Satya was a very intelligent and righteous woman in a way, graduating years earlier than others her age. Although she did not come from Paragon Academy, instead Vishkar's Architech Academy, she was a teacher in the Academy. She taught architecture naturally and with funding along with partnership from Vishkar Tech, Paragon Academy used their technology to teach their architecture classes and other construction classes. She was a good friend with Gabriel due to him wanting to know more information about other Vishkar partners, which Amélie found questionable why he wished to know that information.

Sighing, her closed and locked the door, knowing fully well the remaining members of their mismatched group will be arriving later tonight at the actual meeting time. The French woman settled herself back on the couch as her group began to join them a few minutes later and soon enough, the living room was bursting with laughter, jokes and stories. By the time Amélie had began cooking, with the help of Ana and surprisingly Gabriel, the remaining members of the group arrived. Liao, Fareeha and Jesse surprisingly together in Liao's car. Since they had arrived slightly too late compared to how early the others had arrived, all of the spare beds and larger rooms were already taken, having the four to share a bed with someone or sleep on either the floor or couch.

Fareeha opted to sleep on one of the long couches, since her mother wasn't willing to lend some space on her bed to the taller woman, but Angela offered to share her room with the young Amari, which she gladly accepted. The two were close since the doctor had tutored both Amélie and Fareeha as a break from her work. Angela was always there for them when it came to "girl" things that they didn't understand when Ana wasn't around, although it was Fareeha who needed that sort of advice than Amélie.

Jesse wanted to room with his mentor, but got kicked out onto the couch. Liao roomed with Jack, but joked about how he might end up on the couch later tonight due to a certain edgy person possibly sneaking inside the room. Jack wasn't very thrilled about the joke compared to how the others reacted. Even if they could possibly barely know each other and that they were a part of different groups, they still felt like family and it was enough to let their designated roommates share the bed.

Once everyone had settled in and concluded no one else would be arriving, they began to do their own things while waiting for the food to arrive. Beers were being passed around as Lena, Jamison and Jesse were in the garage working on their motorcycles. Torbjörn joined them after he had gotten a beer, showing them how to repair it more efficiently. Lúcio, Liao, Reinhardt and Fareeha were playing various sports games in the large backyard with the young Amari and knight absolutely dominating the other two. Lúcio complained about how Fareeha had gotten a bit taller over the years, about an inch taller than he was.

Angela, Satya, Jack and Gérard were discussing the latest technology and weapons, with Satya using the Vishkar tech to try and build their ideas. They had come up with plans to help damaged areas of various countries using the new program Paragon Academy was going to start up that involved having students that were under Satya's classes to go to the damage areas and start to help rebuild the city. Amélie, Ana and Gabriel continued their cooking session, adding in music to it.

Although they preferred different genres in music, they had similar tastes. Amélie was into more instrumental and classical music she could easily dance to. Ana liked pop music to their surprise but enjoyed all types of music. Gabriel, which shocked many, despised heavy metal and a few rock songs and was more into remixes of songs. The French woman and sniper loved to tease him by playing punk rock versions of pop songs, which he secretly loved but pretended to be annoyed by it to entertain his two favorite women in the world.

When dinner came around, things began to get hectic. People rushing to the plethora of food on the long dining table, some even was fighting over the last few pieces of it. Food competitions began soon after the brawl at the dining table and those who were lightweights began feeling the effects of the alcohol. As the chaos persists, with few running to the bathrooms and others squeezing the chests of those who were choking due to consuming food inhumanly fast, the young couple watched the room be turn upside down in the corner, cuddled against each other on the couch.

Curled up into the shorter woman, Amélie sighed contently, hoping that this comforting moment will never end. Despite Lena's booming voice of encouragement and screams of her bets on who would win the ridiculous competitions ringing in her ears, the dancer felt calm, her eyes drooping, feeling her body soon to go into slumber.

"Hey love," The runner lightly nudged the shoulder of her adorable, tall girlfriend, smiling at the sight of irritation in the soft features of the other woman.

"Hm?"

"I need to tell you something when we get back."

Amélie immediately sat up at those words, worry evident in her eyes. Lena felt warm hands on her own chilly ones and a finger gently lifting her chin up. Amber orbs met bleak brown ones and the dancer became even more troubled when she sensed her girlfriend's usual overpowering spirit be replaced with a rather somber atmosphere.

"What is it _chérie_?"

Lena bit her lower lip, looking away from the taller woman, struggling against the single finger that was trying to push her face towards the French woman. Should she tell her now? The runner observed the anarchy that was currently going on in the room they were in, giggling at a stark naked Gabriel and Jesse, who were both ready to go streaking and screaming around the neighborhood for losing a bet. Unfortunately, before she could see them begin to sprint out of the house, Amélie shifted her attention back to her, an eyebrow raised as if she was asking the runner what was wrong. The British woman sighed, resting the side of her body against the couch, contemplating whether or not to break the news to her long time girlfriend now and possibly ruin her mood.

" _Chérie_ ," If the sound of someone's voice could kill, Lena would probably drop dead at Amélie's alluring, soft, venomous voice, "What is wrong? You are not usually like this."

Sighing, knowing fully well that she was acting strange. The both of them knew that the runner would've joined the big group, betting on who would be the first one to finish their lap around the neighborhood. Yet, she remained silently on the couch, thoughts plaguing her like it was her most important race in her life. Gathering the courage to break the news to the dancer, Lena looked up to only have her courage be diminished at an instant of the beautiful, distressed look of her graceful girlfriend. Opening her mouth, she said whatever was on her mind, deciding to deal with the consequences later.

"When we get back, I'll tell you. 'Kay love?" She couldn't do it. She couldn't tell her now. The dancer had way more things to worry about and Lena didn't want to put more things on her plate, especially with the news of her long lost father wanting to spend more time with her.

Amélie stared at the shorter woman, mulling over if she should continue to pester the sprinter about what she wanted to tell her, but instead the French woman slowly nodded, deciding to respect Lena's decision. They resumed their cuddling position, the gloomy atmosphere fading as the runner's cheerful attitude returned, joining into their group's banters, bets and a few competitions, mostly the ones that involved the runner to show off her athleticism. As the night progressed and the members of their group began to pass out, Amélie began to clean the house to try and distract herself from the nagging thoughts in her head. Ana, who surprisingly drank as much as everyone else did but still managed to stay sober, took her place in cleaning after telling her that Lena was passed out on the couch.

Carefully lifting the British woman, she walked to their temporary bedroom, setting her girlfriend down on their bed and began to undress her out of the alcohol-reeked clothing. Deciding on just leaving her girlfriend to sleep half naked, she tucked the runner in and gave her a peck on the forehead, whispering a few sweet words before turning off the lights and carefully closing the door to continue cleaning. As she cleaned and chatted with her mentor, her mind wandered to the earlier conversation with Lena, speculating what the runner could possibly wanted to tell her that caused such a grim atmosphere from the shorter woman.

Did the dancer do something wrong that she wasn't aware about?

' _No… Then she would be pouting and avoiding me… That can't be it.'_ Amélie thought to herself, pursing her lips as she grabbed and threw the empty bottles of beer into a trash bag.

Did Lena do something bad to her? Was she cheating on her? Does she want to break up with her? All sorts of questions relating to how most relationships ended began to race through her mind, each being denied by how unlikely it was to be true due to wishful thinking of the dancer. As Ana began to discuss Gérard's recruitment in the military, a question that she had completely forgotten about as a possibility to cause her girlfriend distress. Was Lena planning on joining the military? Like her predecessors have?

' _It would explain her hesitance in telling me…'_ She shook the thought away, murmuring on how the runner would've told her ahead of time than waiting last minute if she were to do so. Yet, the thought and questions wouldn't perish, which left her even more distraught than before.

As time passed of activity filled days that would leave the group tired by the end of the day during their mini vacation, Lena noticed Amélie had been more talkative and restless than before. She kept questioning her, like she was trying to probe the confession she had yet to make out of her. The runner was able to smoothly avoid the topics the dancer tried to discuss with her about, but guilt began to gnaw at her. She knew she couldn't keep avoiding telling Amélie the inventible truth of what she really was going to do after they graduate. She couldn't keep lying to the woman who trusted her immensely and loved her endlessly.

' _As soon as we get home… I'll tell her. I have to.'_

* * *

They fought. They fought like they were the only people in the world and nothing else mattered but their own opinions. The air was thick and practically suffocated them, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was dodging the few items that were thrown at each other and trying to determine the winner of this argument. Their fights were always bad, lasting for about a week or two before they were running back into each other's arms. This one was different though.

Lena knew Amélie would be furious, but she didn't anticipate for the woman to pack a bag full of clothes and drive off to Ana's home. The British woman was devastated at that moment and refused to stay in their apartment any longer, so she had grabbed the necessities she would need for a week and moved in with Lucío and his parents. The musician's family was more than happy to help the best friend of their son.

Unfortunately, they had fought before a school day and Lena was dreading to go to her fitness class. It was the only class she had with Amélie. To make matters worse, their lockers were across from each other, which meant only a small bench would separate them. As the runner slowly went to her locker, she saw her lover topless and speaking with Ana's daughter, Fareeha. Amélie didn't dare look at her while the young Amari glared at her. Lena avoided the two the whole period.

A week had passed and things only got worse for the runner. She noticed that the French woman was becoming more and more distant from her, probably only making eye contact with her once. She was also becoming distant from the other Overwatch members, besides Gabriel, Ana and Gérard. Amélie even tried to avoid Fareeha during their fitness class, which failed since the young Amari eventually confronted her about it. Lena wasn't sure what they were talking about, but she could only hope that the young teen would help her problem with the dancer. By how the two looked after the confrontation, Lena thought that they will make up by the end of the week and everything will end fairly well.

Except it didn't. Another week passed and one day, Amélie was watching her in the bleachers doing her daily morning run to talk to her. Lena hoped that she was willing to forgive her and everything, but was instead met by a heartbreaking truth. The French woman didn't want to be with someone even after years of being together and still not being able to tell each other everything. She didn't want to be with a liar.

They avoided each other like plague after that. Amélie had taken her things from their apartment and moved back in with Ana. Lena had officially moved in with Lúcio's family, being quickly accepted into the family, throwing herself into racing to get her mind off things. She had almost got back into a gang that was well known for robbing and racing, but Angela had stopped her. The doctor had told her she was being irrational about the situation and so was Amélie. She said that they wouldn't dare throw away a perfectly healthy four-year relationship over a petty lie.

Although, they did. As much as Lena hated to admit, they probably wouldn't be back together since she knew Amélie was afraid to lose the person she loved as much as her family. The British woman knew that since the dancer had separated herself from Ana and Gabriel when she found out that she was going to stay in a permanent place for her high school life and away from the two. Amélie was doing the same thing to her now, knowing fully well that unlike Gérard, Lena was going to be sent into the field. The possibility of death was as high as Ana's and Gabriel's. The moment she decided to enlist was the moment she lost Amélie.

During graduation, they met eyes once and Lena saw how much she screwed up. Pain, anger, sadness and many more emotions were shown in those amber eyes. The runner began to question if she made the right choice at that very moment. Especially when she saw Gérard kissing Amélie right after the ceremony in front of all the main Overwatch members. Were they together? Lena didn't want to know as she turned on her heels and angrily ran to her recruiter, demanding for her to start training as soon as possible. She found out another miserable truth, that Gérard was joining the French Air Force, but being stationed at the same place she was due to the new alliance between the UK and France involving their aerial forces.

Lena Oxton did not look forward to working with Gérard Lacroix in their training.

* * *

"I just finished my last final. I will be visiting Fareeha in Egypt soon."

"Will you be staying there for your whole break?"

" _Non_ , my father wants for me to come with him to Gibraltar for a month. He wishes to spend some time with me."

"So you really are willing to give him a chance?"

"I… _Oui_ , I wish to know more about my father."

Amélie stopped walking due to the pedestrian sign showing the red symbol for stop. It was one of the rare, unpredictable rainy summer days in Paris, causing the twenty-year-old woman to use her purse as a shield from the unrelenting rain. When the light showed the green walking person, she jogged through the rain despite wearing the wrong type of boots. She was overjoyed that finals were over and she had almost two months before fall semester to spend time with friends and family. Amélie was glad that Paragon Academy had prepared her for college finals, since it was much more scarier and stressful than she initially thought. She faintly heard a sigh from the other side of the phone and barely heard what the other woman said.

"Just be careful around him."

"I will. Gérard told me he will be stationed there for the summer, so I won't be alone," Amélie could see the grin that was on the older woman's face.

"Gérard huh? How's he doing? I heard he was on leave for a few months due to an injury."

"Well, I'm actually meeting him tonight for dinner before he leaves tomorrow for Gibraltar. He recovered rather quickly thanks to Dr. Ziegler. He was suppose to return to active duty two months ago, but Angela let him keep his three month leave," The other woman chuckled as she realized that she was close to the restaurant.

Amélie gave a sheepish smile to someone who had given her an odd look when she passed by. She knew it was odd to see a French woman speak fluent Arabic in the streets of her home country, but she didn't want to get rusty with her Arabic since she was going to Egypt by the end of next week.

"Never did I thought you and Gérard would be a thing. You two seemed more like siblings than a couple."

' _I never thought about it either._ ' When Gérard had asked Amélie out a few weeks before she started college after she graduated, she couldn't help but to say yes. She didn't want to humiliate her best friend in public since he had asked her out in the airport when she went to pick him after his tour. She never thought him as anything more than a friend, but as they went out more and more, she eventually fell in love with him. Although, she didn't love him more than she had loved Lena, but she probably will never love someone more than she loved the runner.

"Neither did I."

Amélie was thankful that the restaurant was only a ten-minute walk away from her school, since the rain began to become harder. She cursed the odd weather Paris had as she lightly jogged to the entrance of her destination.

"Don't have too much fun, Amélie," The dancer rolled her eyes as the guard opened the door to the restaurant to her. She muttered a quick thanks and flashed a small smile as she entered.

"I'm an adult now Ana. I know how to take care of myself."

"Yes, but you are still young. It is possible for you to do stupid things."

Amélie shook her head and approached the desk in the front of the lobby.

"I have to go now. I'll call you later," She heard the older woman sigh and could imagine her nodding right now.

"Alright. Tell me how your date with Gérard goes. Don't want to lose another good soldier."

" _Adieu."_

" _Ila al'likaa'."_

The dancer gently dropped her phone into her purse as the host of the restaurant greeted her with a smile, "Right this way Miss Moreau."

It was odd to hear English in a restaurant like this, but then again, Gérard has chosen one of the most popular tourist eateries in Paris. The host led her to a booth in the corner of the room, where her boyfriend was, still dressed in his blue Overwatch uniform. She concluded that he had just finished training the recruits they had in the organization. The dancer thanked the host, who simply nodded and walked away as Gérard gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"How was your last exam of the semester?" He asked in French, as they both sat down across from each other in the table.

 **(A/N: All of this dialogue from here and below is in French just to let you guys know)**

"It was more stressful than I initially thought," Gérard hummed as he thanked waiter that filled their drinks, "How's your last day of recovery?"

Gérard chuckled, "Better now that you're here," The French woman rolled her eyes as he continued, "The new recruits I was training seem promising."

Amélie hummed, raising an eyebrow at the realization that the host or waiter hadn't given her a menu, "I'm presuming you already ordered?"

Just as she said that, the waiter arrived with a plate full of various types of appetizers. They said their thanks as the man smiled and winked at Gérard, causing Amélie's curiosity to rise. The soldier shrugged.

"Thought you wanted to try something different," He muttered, tossing a fry in his mouth.

Amélie shook her head and smiled, taking a bite of some fried cheese, "How is the project you are working on?"

Gérard's eyes lit up like a little kid in a candy store. He was an engineer in the French Air Force who repaired, designed and built various different planes. He flew a few of his creations, testing to make sure it was clear to fly, but that's as close as he go to being in danger. The one he was currently working on was a sort of initiation to Overwatch. The woman wondered why he rejected Ana's proposal to go straight into Overwatch after high school. They always joked it was because of Genji joining, but sometimes she wondered if it was because of her. Because of what happened between her and Lena two years ago.

"Ah yes! Winston and I built this aircraft that could possibly travel through time and-"

The French woman tuned out her boyfriend, thinking back to her lover before the man. Lena had joined the Air Force with Gérard and immediately passed training after a week. Apparently, due to her incredible skills, all she needs to do was take the written and physical exams to become a pilot. She only heard stories about the young woman and her adventures around the world. All of them were about how she was a hero and inspiration to many. Gérard and many others misunderstood the two's break up. She knew it was rather hypocritical to break up with someone due to his or her decision to be a soldier, but later on date a person who was doing something similar. Although the differences of the two were huge, with Lena actually going into the field while Gérard merely works on the planes going into the field with them, Amélie couldn't help but feel guilty.

"We already have a few pilots chosen to test it!"

That sentence brought her back to reality along with the arrival of the waiter setting down glasses of wine and their main meal.

"You hand picked the pilots?" She quickly blurted out, trying to seem like she was paying attention to everything he was saying. She loved Gérard, she truly did, but she was tired of him going on and on about things she couldn't understand.

"Who else would? Winston just recently arrived from the moon and he's not even part of anything!"

Right. Amélie had forgotten that the gorilla scientist was part of the Lunar project the UN had launched years ago. She loved Winston like he was that one confused relative that just immigrated to her area. A year ago, when she first met him, she sympathized him since she understood how it felt to lose something that was precious. She constantly visited after classes, since Winston was Gérard's roommate in a way since the two were working together. She always brought food due to the fact the two forget to take care of themselves when they are so immersed in their work.

Every time she visited the duo, she always thought Winston was always been on Earth, but he just adapted extremely quick to his new environments. Then again, they were trying to make the apes there incredibly intelligent and powerful as the super soldiers in various armies throughout the world. They succeeded, but with the price of all human life on the moon. Now Overwatch had two major problems, reclaiming the base on the moon to make sure the gorillas there don't do anything to harm anyone else on Earth and the rebels that were around from the Omnic Crisis.

"How is he anyways? You guys don't get much sleep at all."

"He's fine! Ana has been on his ass about exercising more than being holed up in his lab all the time. She's been on my ass too since she found out Angela hadn't cleared me to go back to work on purpose so I could spend time with you."

Amélie laughed, "So I've heard."

They continued to chat while eating, with Gérard eyeing her the entire time, especially when she glanced at the glass of white wine next to her. She ignored it and continued to tell him about how she was doing in college. She was going to have a bachelor's degree in education, on top of that taking classes for dance and physical education. Ever since she was little, she knew she wanted to either become a professional dancer or a teacher. Although, she made up her mind to be both, she already had a few parts to make some choreography in a few music videos and concerts of popular performers. She had planned to look at various schools around the areas she would have to travel at for those jobs and thought of being a temporary student teacher for a few months. Although it would be hard since she has stay in that place for as long as that contract lasted, but she was willing to do it so she could do something she loves.

Amélie picked up the glass of wine, quickly inspecting it to see something metallic at the bottom of it. Thinking it was just the reflection from the light, she slowly began to sip it. She came to sudden stop when something metallic hit her lips. She saw Gérard's sly smile grow into a knowing smirk. Slowly, with the tips of her fingers, plucked the object from the tip of the glass. Her eyes widened, placing the glass gently down, as her lover quickly snatched it from her fingers.

"I know we've only been dating for 2 years and best friends for 7, but I love you Amélie Moreau. For the past 7 years I've known you I have loved you and I want to move forward in life with you by my side. So if you accept my cheezy proposal and are willing to deal with me for as long as you think you can handle me, than marry me."

Whatever had happened next was a blur for Amélie, since the next thing she knew a cool ring was on her finger and she was enveloped into a hug from her now fiancé, claps and woots erupting from the people around them. She swore she heard Ana from the distance along with other voices she recognized to be Reinhardt, Torbjörn and Jesse, but she chose to ignore it, instead asking her lover a question that was bothering her.

"Gérard?"

"Yes?"

"Did you just propose like how the actor in that one Spider-Man movie in 2007?"

Gérard gave her a blank expression and slowly nodded. Amélie busted out laughing, enjoying the first of many joyful moments with the man that she would be committed to for life. She may never love him more than she had with Lena, but she imagined a better life with him than the one she imagined with the pilot. Her father always favored the engineer over the track star.

* * *

She was incredibly nervous. Her palms became clammy as she ran a hand through her hair, practically putting on another layer of sweat through the gelled hair. Looking at her reflection in the window, she readjusted her scarf and placed the aviators that belonged to her grandpa on the top of her head, resting on the spike that was perfectly gelled. It was a big day for the prestigious Lena Oxton. It was the day she would fly the Slipstream.

"Oxton! C'mere!"

Taking a deep breath, the pilot slowly entered the command center, seeing her commanding officer standing tall with pride and a big smile on his face. She returned his smile, saluting him as she went into the typical attention stance.

"At ease Tracer, you will no longer be part of unit after this," He grabbed her shoulders, giving it a firm squeeze, "Your going to be in Overwatch now. So will Lacroix and Winston."

Years ago, she would've frown at hearing the French man's last name, but she was more mature about how he went straight for her ex-girlfriend after they had broken up. Besides, she couldn't let some past mistakes from two years ago ruin her bright future.

"Aw, don't worry love, I'll visit sometime!" The man laughed and patted her back, stepping back and pointing a thumb to a man and a gorilla behind him.

"Well, don't want to delay you any further! The mad scientists are waiting to give you the briefing," With a slight push, she stumbled towards the duo, almost crashing into her best friend.

Hearing the footsteps and fading laughter from her former commander, her smile widened saluting the two in front of her, "Hiya loves! Are we all ready?"

The gorilla turned around, adjusting his glasses as he gave Lena a smile, showing off perfect white pointed teeth, "We're just doing a quick system check at the moment, but in half an hour it should be all ready for you to fly."

The man next to him nodded, turning while looking down at a tablet in his hand, "Wish I would've been the one flying it to be honest, but this whole super soldier process has gotten me a little off my game."

Winston slapped his back as lightly as he could, but Gérard almost fell forward, "You also have a wedding to plan! Congratulations by the way!"

Lena felt her heart sink into her stomach. She knew the engineer was planning to propose to the dancer for quite a while, but she didn't think he would actually do it. Well, she knew he would do it but not so soon. The feeling of jealousy was beginning to form in her mind as she bitterly thought of how she has to deal with her boss and ex-girlfriend being all coupley in front of her during her time in Overwatch. Ever since Amélie, she hadn't been seriously involved with anyone. Her time in the Air Force took most of that time away, so one night stands and temporary relationships was what she settled with in place of the empty feeling in her chest.

Forcing a smile, she gave the engineer a wink, "Congrats mate!"

Gérard scratched the back of his head, laughing lightly, "Thanks. I hope to see you guys there."

"Can't miss seeing my favorite people get married. It was about time," Winston said as he moved behind Lena, beginning to install some sort of safety machines on her suit, namely a yellow chest piece and gauntlets. Gérard cleared his throat as he looked back down to the tablet.

"Alright, so Lena, this is a simple field test. Easy take off, activate the matrix, speed boost to initiate 'blink', repeat that blink process several times until you do a loop around the course then you can land," He flipped the tablet to show the pilot the course which she responded with a salute.

"Seems easy enough!" She turned to the scientist who was still putting on armor on top of her jumpsuit, "You almost done checking out my arse love?"

If the gorilla could blush like a human, he would probably be as red as a tomato as he handed her a helmet, "Please be safe Lena. Don't try doing any tricks in the air. We're still unsure how this will turn out."

The pilot merely laughed and slapped the scientist's shoulder, "Don't worry love! I'll come back in one piece! No promises about the Slipstream though."

Winston frowned at her last remark, sighing as he turned around to look at the panel, reassessing the stability of the matrix in the plane. Gérard gave Lena a cheeky grin and a thumbs up.

"Don't damage the Slipstream too much Lena. Win and I spent endless nights and months on this baby," He winked at her as he patted the gorilla's back, "Guess men and apes can really make children!"

They had a laugh, Lena's sounding more forceful than she meant it to be, as they dismissed the British woman to speak with her friends that wish to tell her good luck on her flight. She gave them one last salute and smile, before heading back to the fairly empty hallway and letting her smile drop into a frown, eyes showing a dull look of sadness. She let her mind slowly wonder as she trudged towards the take off zone where everyone was waiting for her.

Amélie was marrying Gérard. Her ex-girlfriend broke up with her because of the military, yet she was marrying a man that's also in the military! Sure, the French man wasn't in the field, but he was going to soon once he finishes the super soldier process. Anger crawled through her thoughts, fists clenching at the thought of them being together for possibly forever. Jealousy clouded her mind. Taking deeps breaths and pushing away the thought of Amélie, Lena put on a smile when a certain Swiss doctor engulfing her into a hug. The woman kept spewing out words in German, while the pilot meekly laughed and patted her back.

"Geez love. It'll only take a few minutes! No need to start bawling on me," She said as the strike-commander of Overwatch approached her with a smile.

"You ready Oxton?" Breaking away from the hug, Lena gave him a nod and a smile as Angela continued to sniffle beside her.

"As ready as I'll ever be!" A man who looked like a cybernetic ninja appeared in the British woman's view, making her smile genuine and widen, "Genji! You made it! How was Germany with the ol' knight?"

The cyborg merely shook his head, "Interesting. Never did I thought I would see any other dragons but my own clan's."

Lena giggled, "Well, guess you got some rivals love! I'm glad you made it in time to see history being made! Shame that Reinhardt couldn't do the same."

The cyborg nodded and gave her a thumbs up before being pulled down by someone sharply by her scarf. Quickly recovering from the sudden imbalance of gravity and turning around to see who had tugged the back of her suit, she squealed with joy when she saw Gabriel and Ana there. Ana let out a hearty laugh while Gabriel sighed and patted Lena's back awkwardly.

Two years ago, this behavior would've been odd between the three, but since the break-up and Lena joining the military along with the UN's interest in her made them closer. Gabriel had pitied the pilot for Amélie's fear of losing someone else to the military, which he couldn't blame the French woman for, so he often brought the girl out with him when she refused to be her usual social self. The two had some sort of connection with sudden break-ups, making them grow closer through that. Lena then understood why Amélie had viewed the aloof man as a father or brother figure. He was nurturing and supportive, along with being pushy at Lena to reach her goals and aim higher. He was a great role model to follow to the pilot, who wished to be similar to him to someone else one day.

Ana on the other hand, she had been on multiple missions with. She had learned to rely on the older woman on multiple times she had crashed her aircraft and had to rely on the sniper to give her back up cover for her to reach to safety since she was never really good at aiming a firearm. That's when Ana had pulled her aside and started teaching her how to aim and handle a firearm more efficiently. The sniper obviously had attempted to teach her how to properly use a sniper rifle, but the pilot greatly preferred handguns. When it came to long missions, she bunked with the older woman. Those missions were her favorite since she finds out a lot of things about the people she knew that she didn't know, even embarrassing stories about Amélie. It was odd to be close to your ex's foster mom, but Lena didn't mind it. It was interesting and a bit heartbreaking to hear how much Amélie had accomplished and planned to do during the two years they haven't seen each other compared to what she had done.

For the past two years, Lena had built quite a name for herself. She was basically the face of the RAF, occasionally in the UK's other military branches as well to encourage more women to join. She travelled at all of the continents, meeting fans and new friends in every country she went. Although she didn't get close to any of the friends she made during her tours, she missed the various different cultures and people in those areas. She learned the basics of various languages and their culture in the countries she travelled to. She had hoped to see her parents, but…

Lena's eyes drooped down to the ground of the memory of her parents. Three months after she was chosen for the Slipstream project, her mother was killed in action due to a riot in the Switzerland Overwatch Headquarters where she was stationed as a guard for the HQ. Her mother's death had caused her father's weak heart to fail all of a sudden, due to him heavily drinking behind the pilot's back. That led him in the hospital, where he still remained until today due to a heart condition he had ever since he was young. It was an awful time for Lena, probably as bad as her middle school years. She almost got into her old ways, which would be the second time she had almost gone back, but her close friends from Overwatch was able to catch her before it happened.

That's when all of them began to take turns of taking her out of her depressing mess of an apartment, trying to brighten up her mood and remind her that she wasn't alone and had multiple reasons to live. Although the older members would either bring her out to train or teach her things that they have done when they were her age, Lena loved every second of it. It was like she was brought into a new family.

Ana probably had caught her sudden change of mood, since she gave the British woman a bear hug despite Ana being only a few inches taller than the pilot.

" _It's okay, dear. Your mother is watching you always and your father will see you in the news, proud to call you his flesh and blood,"_ Ana whispered to her in her native tongue, knowing fully well Lena could understand her. During the time they spent together and times they spent in countries that had Arabic as their primary language, the sniper taught the pilot the language for future purposes.

Lena nodded, holding back a sob in the back of her throat, "Thanks love. Just wished they could physically watch me."

Ana nodded in acknowledgement as they let each other go when the pilot's now former commander came up behind her to inform her that the Slipstream was clear to test. She said a quick goodbye and promise she'll be back in one piece in less than twenty minutes to everyone that was watching, she walked towards the aircraft, her commander giving her instructions once again to make sure she wouldn't mess the experiment up.

"You got that Golden Hands? Don't want the Spooks or Grunts up my ass about giving you the wrong orders," He joked, as Lena just smiled and nodded. She didn't understand the US Air Force slang very well, since she was used to the various other slangs, but mainly the RAF ones.

She let out a surprised yelp and giggled as her commander pulled her in for a hug, murmuring sentences of how proud her was to her. He had been her commander ever since the moment she finished her basic training, so she felt upset about how she would no longer be under his command. After one last reassuring sentence, they said their goodbyes and Lena had her helmet tucked under her arm when a photographer came running up to her to take a picture with her and the Slipstream. After a few shots and mess-ups, the pilot hopped on the aircraft; beginning to do the basic procedures for take off.

"You're all clear Oxton. Remember, just one lap around the course using the "Blink" function," Gérard's voice echoed through the aircraft as she began to start up the plane's engine, a blue light emitting from the device in front of her.

"Take off anytime Lena," Winston continued, "You don't need a countdown or anything. Just give us a heads up when you're going to initiate the blink."

"Got it loves."

Pulling the lever forward, she let out a surprised whoop when the aircraft immediately took up to the skies. Laughing, she activated the matrix, which glowed a brighter blue, and the sounds of whirring filled her ears as she started up the speed boost.

"Wait for it..."

When she saw the aircraft reaching maximum speed, she squeezed the glowing blue button that sent her back against her seat, like she was falling from the tallest point of a rollercoaster. Next thing she knew, she was about five hundred meters away from where she was originally. Smiling and the thrill of flight overwhelming her, she let out a laugh and scream of joy.

"Wicked! It worked loves!"

She began to do another blink, followed by another, which were both successful. She heard screams of joy from the other side of her comm from the command center. She assumed they were celebrating of the success of the fighter. When she realized she had about seven hundred meters away from her landing zone, she decided to go for another spin at the device.

"Check this out love!"

Smirking she started another blink, but when she reached for the button, all she felt was air. Looking down to her hands, they seemed to be translucent. Like they weren't there anymore. Fear began to boil in her mind as she hurriedly tried to shut down the matrix, but her hand went through it. Panicking, she tried to reach for anything, anything at all, but she couldn't touch anything. Soon enough, she saw her body beginning to fade in and out like her hands.

"Gérard! Winston! Something's wrong! I ca- I can't touch anything!"

"Ox- Stop- Shu- The matrix! Shut down the matrix!"

"I can't! Loves I can't! Something's wrong! I'm fading!"

"Lena- The Slip- it- di- appear- ing-"

She heard various sounds of beeping; whirs and her own scream when she saw the fighter beginning to fade like her. The last thing she saw was the bright blue, sunny sky and heard her own screams of panic. Her vision faded to white while everything around her ceased to exist.

* * *

 **A/N: This was for the OW Big Bang thing on Tumblr! Here's the art for it made by shikokiomi (thanks for being able to tolerate little me as your partner XD!):** post/155041280542/hi-there-long-time-no-see-heres-my-part-of-the


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